Foot Placement or Foot Strike?

In today’s blog post I want to share a comment I heard a few weeks ago, made originally by another coach. The annoying thing is, I can’t remember who originally said it!

The coach made the valid point that across the running community, including coaches, the media, clubs and the scientific community, it could be argued that we’re all using a bad piece of every-day running terminology. A piece of bad terminology which reinforces a big element of poor and destructive running form. I’m as guilty as anyone of using this particular term 🙂

I’m talking about the term: Foot Strike.

Google the verb “strike” and it comes back with the following definition: “to hit forcibly and deliberately”

Now, there will be many who will say I’m simply arguing over semantics, of course.

However as a coaching cue, telling an athlete to think about actively placing their foot on the ground with control will fundamentally change their running gait, compared to allowing the foot to strike the ground heavily without control. Try it!

Perhaps we should all start saying Foot Placement instead?

Running is clearly a high-impact sport. Being the technique geek I am, I’m always helping runners to improve their form in order to reduce unnecessary loading where possible. What I don’t want to see in a runner is a big, heavy, forceful strike, every time the foot hits the ground. Learning to place the foot gently is a hugely important skill for any runner to learn

What’s In a Name?

Thinking about the big differences a piece of seemingly small terminology like this can make, got me to thinking about other ways in which terminology like this lets us down across the running community as a whole.

A good example of this is a feature of many running shoes: the Crash Pad, found in the heel of the shoe design. No prizes for guessing what this is designed to do.

The last thing, as a coach, I want runners visualising is their heels crashing into the ground. If I see this obvious ‘crashing‘ in a runner’s form, I know we have lots of work to do…!

Feel The Difference!

Next time you go for a run, try thinking about how it actually feels as your feet make contact with the ground. By manipulating elements of your running form such as increasing cadence, reducing contact time and improving posture, you should notice your feel coming down to the ground more gently underneath you.

You might also notice a difference in the sound they make every time your foot is placed the ground beneath you. This auditory feedback can provide an excellent cue to listen out for as you run. The moment your running sounds too heavy, it probably is!

Once you feel as if you’re improving the quality of the contact under your feet, contrast this against your ‘old technique‘, by allowing yourself to slip back into old ways for a few strides…

As you make this contrast you should feel a definite sensation of striking the ground, in comparison to the light and slightly quicker sensation of placing the foot on the ground.

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James has an academic background in Sport Rehabilitation and a special interest in Applied Biomechanics. He currently coaches a large number of Runners and Triathletes across all levels of ability and performance. He's grown a strong reputation for enabling athletes to improve their running performance and overcome running injuries through improving Running Technique and developing Run Specific Strength. You can read more on his website: Kinetic Revolution

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Jade in NM

Actually, there is some empirical evidence that “heel striking” is no big deal. Run the way you are comfortable and don’t change your gait to match someone else’s opinion of which way is better. In fact, heel striking appears to be the “normal” way most people run. Runnersworld recently published an article on the research conducted by the US Army:

“Recently the U.S. Army tackled the forefoot-vs.-rearfoot question as it related to the running strides of a few hundred soldiers, as well as their 2-mile times and reported injury incidence.

Result: The Army found no difference in performance or injury rates between the two groups of runners.

The Army recruited 342 males into the study. They were filmed while running to determine footstrike, with the outcome that 87% of the runners were characterized as heel strikers, much as in other studies of runners at large. The other 13% were labeled non-heel strikers. All presumably ran in conventional, well-cushioned running shoes.

When given a 2-mile time-trial, the two groups produced identical times, 14:48 on average.

There were also no statistical differences between reports of injuries between the two groups, or in number of days when training had to be modified due to injury. Injury occurrences were drawn from a survey tool. In both cases, there was a trend toward the non-heel strikers having more problems.

The study was coordinated by U.S. Army researchers in Natick, Massachusetts, and San Antonio, Texas. They will report their results later this month at the American College of Sports Medicine annual meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana.

“Neither foot strike pattern is advantageous” for performance or injury prevention, the research team concluded.”

So, for all the advice to run “midfoot” or some other form, 87% of the test subjects were “heel” runners. That should tell you something.

hi and thanks for your article. What i’m still confused about is whether one should land on the forefoot or on the heel… i see lots of joggers just landing on their forefoot – but just for how long would they be able to run this way (I can’t…)
i have some injury-related issues with my kees and lower back and would like to land as softly as possible every time I place my feet!
chris

You’re not the only one who’s confused about how the foot should land (forefoot or heel). Current research is yet to give us any definitive answers! From a coaching point of view, I always advocate either a light and ‘glancing’ heel strike, or a midfoot strike. Your aim to land softly is a great route forward, given your injuries. I’d suggest focusing on shortened contact time (increased cadence), and good posture – allowing the foot to land as is natural for given pace and terrain.

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